When college sports teams finally return to play, they might not be traveling quite as far as they did for road games before the pandemic.
The cancellation of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament has produced a budget crunch that leaves colleges everywhere looking for cost-saving measures. One simple step is to cut back on travel.
That’s easier for some schools than others.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga announced last month that any 2020-21 away games that hadn’t already been scheduled must be played within 150 miles of its campus. The teams also need to return to campus the day of the game to avoid any lodging costs.
“They understand it was a one-year situation,” UTC athletic director and vice chancellor Mark Wharton said of his coaches’ reaction. “I made it clear that after we get through all this and we feel fairly healthy for ’21-22, we’d go back within reason and go to the model we were at before.”